Vegan Veg - Recipe: Soya milk

Immature green soya beans (the Japanese call them edamame) can be eaten fresh or with only minimum preparation. Once dried, although more versatile, soya beans require significantly more preparation due to the presence of trypsin inhibitors, which interfere with digestion. If you are cooking with dried soya beans, you must soak them for at least eight hours, drain them, and then boil in fresh water for an hour before simmering for another three. Only then are they ready to be used.
The making of soya milk isn’t quite so arduous and can open up the door to making one’s own tofu and the more obscure okara (the left-over pulp from making soya milk) and yuba (the skin from boiled soya milk). Okara, though tasteless on its own, can be used to make burgers, falafel, koftes etc. It takes on the flavours surrounding it. Yuba can be used as wrapping material for Dim Sum or similar parcel-like goodies.

Space doesn’t allow for description of the whole tofu making process but here’s how to make the others.

Ingredients

❯    200g dried soya beans
❯    Water
❯    You will require: a large piece of muslin, a very large deep pan, a large bowl.

1.    Soak the soya beans in water for at least 8 hours or overnight
2.    Drain thoroughly
3.    Heat 2 litres of fresh water in the large pan, add the drained beans
4.    Cook for 20-30 mins, the beans should begin to foam and then this will subside (if there is a danger of boiling over, add a little cold water. This should subdue any rampant foaming)
5.    Using the muslin, drain the liquid into the bowl. Squeeze as much liquid out as possible.
6.    The liquid is your soya milk – it will keep for about three days in the fridge